Kepak Convenience Foods, which makes Rustler’s microwave burgers and other snacks has rolled out a “frisky fleet” as part of a new advertising campaign. Kepak described writing in grime on the back of trucks as a “popular trend” that would “bring a smile to motorists up and down the land”. The trucks are supplied by Abbey Roadtanks and will transport the Rustlers products around the country from its Lancashire production site.
Palletforce has lent its assistance to UNICEF for the palletised distribution of donations to the Blue Peter Shoe Biz charity appeal. The charity was introduced to Palletforce when it was trying to find a courier to collect some new shoes which were donated by a viewer. It then agreed to collect the larger, more unique donations UNICEF had been receiving free of charge, such as new shoes donated by manufacturers.
Vicky Edmonds from UNICEF said: “UNICEF will be continuing to work with Palletforce to complete these collections for the duration of the Blue Peter Shoe Biz Appeal and is extremely grateful to all staff and members for their ongoing support.”
The Blue Peter Shoe Biz appeal will be raising money to help the many orphans and other children made vulnerable because of HIV and AIDS in Malawi. For more information, please visit www.shoebizappeal.org.uk.
Language is a hot topic for Dean Attwell, managing director of Oakland International. He says that it is essential that staff are multilingual and able to work with manufacturers and retailers around the world. He has taken this message to St Augustine’s Catholic High School in Redditch to encourage students to choose a foreign language as part of their GCSE options. He is working with the school to organise projects and opportunities for pupils to see the benefits of languages in the business world.
Intermec is setting its sights above the world, having entered into an RFID research project with the NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Centre in the US. The project will investigate the use of RFID tags and machine readable markings on space vehicles. It will test their ability to withstand exposure to extreme levels of “ultraviolet radiation, atomic oxygen, hard vacuum, and contamination in low earth orbit”. Fred Schramm, administrator at the internal research and development programme at NASA, said: “Special identification markings for use with spacecraft will play an increasingly important role as we prepare more complex vehicles and systems to support the implementation of the Vision for Space Exploration,”.
Schmitz Cargobull has joined forces with cold specialists Carrier Transcold and Wincanton to raise money for Transaid. Schmitz is building a multi-temperature cold trailer that will operate on one of Wincanton’s main trunking routes for a year.
The rental value of the trailer decked out in Transaid’s logo will be donated direct to the cause. It hopes to raise £10,000 during the year. Wincanton employee, Caroline Barber, has recently returned from a voluntary assignment in Ghana with transport charity Transaid. Alongside Transaid’s programme manager, Ekow Fletcher, she worked with four women’s street trading co-operatives to develop a business plan and operating policy for a viable, sustainable transport operation.
Her trip to Ghana marked the first stage of the Transaid project that is designed to provide the group with a profitable fleet of vehicles that the co-operatives own and manage.
During the workshop, the women worked in groups to plan routes, considering factors such as distances involved, volumes, vehicle fill and loading and unloading times.
From this session, they produced a schedule based on a sample week and then presented it back to the group for discussion, focusing on how to operate more effectively and get maximum benefit from the assets.
